Gulf · Trick-taking · Partners
Baloot: rules and how to play
بلوت
Baloot is the card game of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: fast, loud and full of its own words. Two teams of two play with 32 cards, buy the hand as Sun (no trump) or Hokom (with trump), and declare projects for extra points. The first team to 152 wins.
At a glance
- Players
- 4, in two teams of two
- Deck
- 32 cards, 7 to ace
- Goal
- First team to 152 points
- A game
- Several hands, to 152 points
01
How to play in one minute
- Deal five cards each and turn one card face up.
- Starting on the dealer's right, buy or pass: Sun (no trump) or Hokom (the face-up card's suit is trump). Sun outranks Hokom.
- The buyer takes the face-up card and two more; everyone else takes three. Eight cards each.
- Declare your projects with your first card, then play eight tricks. Follow suit; in Hokom, trump if you can't.
- Count the card points. The buyers must beat the defenders, or the defenders take everything.
02
The rules
Buying
In the first round each player in turn may buy Sun, buy Hokom in the face-up card's suit, or pass; a later player can still take Sun over a Hokom. If all pass, a second round allows Hokom in another suit, or Sun. If all pass again, the next dealer deals.
Playing
The player on the dealer's right leads, and each trick's winner leads the next. Follow suit. In Hokom, if you can't follow you must trump, beating a trump already played if you can; when trump is led, play a higher trump if you can. The highest trump wins, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.
Card points
- Sun and plain suits: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2.
- Hokom trumps: jack 20, nine 14, ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3.
- All other cards score nothing, and the last trick is worth 10 more.
Scoring
- A hand is worth 26 in Sun and 16 in Hokom. The buyers need more points than the defenders; a tie fails.
- When the buyers make it, they score their card points divided by 5 (Sun) or 10 (Hokom), rounded, and the defenders get the rest.
- Khasara: if the buyers fail, the defenders take all 26 or 16 plus every project.
- Kaboot: a team that takes all eight tricks scores 44 in Sun or 25 in Hokom, plus its projects.
Projects and Baloot
Declare projects with your first card: three in a row of one suit is a Sira, four a Fifty, five or more a Hundred; four tens, jacks, queens or kings are also a Hundred, and four aces in Sun are the 400. Only the team with the best project scores, with all of its projects. Baloot is the king and queen of trump in one hand: 2 points, kept even when the contract fails and never doubled.
Sun: the buyers take 81 card points and the defenders 49. The buyers score 16 (81 ÷ 5, rounded) and the defenders 10.
03
Tips from the table
- Buy Sun on aces and tens, not just high cards: in Sun the ace and the ten carry 21 of the 30 points in each suit.
- In Hokom the jack and nine of trump are worth 34 between them. Know where they are before you lead trumps.
- Declare even a modest project: only the best project at the table scores, and it brings all of your team's projects with it.
- Never forget the last trick. Its 10 points can turn a narrow buy into Khasara.
Qahwa · قهوة
Play it in Qahwa
Switch the house rules before you deal:
- Doubling in Hokom: Double, Three and Four
- Gahwa: after Four, the buyer can stake the whole match on one hand
- Doubling in Sun only at certain scores
- Four aces in Sun worth 40 or 80
- Ashkal: buy Sun for your partner
- Trump over your partner when you can't follow
04
Questions
What is the difference between Sun and Hokom?
Sun has no trump and is worth 26 per hand. Hokom has a trump suit, in which the jack and the nine become the strongest cards, and is worth 16. Sun outranks Hokom when buying.
What is Gahwa in Baloot?
Gahwa is the last call after Double, Three and Four: the team that wins that hand wins the whole match at once. You can switch it on or off in Qahwa.
How many points is a game of Baloot?
Qahwa plays Baloot to 152 points, the usual target in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
